Austin-Travis County EMS Graduates 17 New Officers

Good news is in short supply in the EMS industry in the United States, as it struggles to attract and retain EMS personnel.

But good news is exactly what the Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) department received on December 17, 2025. On that date, 17 new cadets graduated from the ATCEMS academy. For an agency grappling with approximately 100 vacancies, getting 17 new pairs of boots on the ground is a big win. 

For the record, ATCEMS is a municipal third service, career EMS system that operates independently of the fire department. It serves about 1.4 million individuals across 1,100 square miles, answering over 130,000 calls per year with 45 ambulances staffed daily.

Unlike other jurisdictions, ATCEMS’ staffing challenge is not due to low wages or stressful working conditions, said ATCEMS Chief and NAEMT President-Elect Robert Luckritz. “Instead, our biggest problem is actually just the ongoing population growth that we're seeing in our coverage area.”

In response to Austin-Travis County’s population boom, the city has heavily invested in expanding the EMS department. This rapid expansion is exactly what makes staffing the department so difficult.

"We've seen a dramatic number of new positions added since 2019," Chief Luckritz told EMS World. "In 2019, our authorized strength was 576, and right now it's 714. So, you're looking at close to 150 new positions that the city has added for us. So we've had the challenge of not just handling the departures of the folks that left during the pandemic and our retirements and other things, but we need to grow. So how do we overcome that? Because we're keeping up with the folks that are leaving, but we're not being as successful at filling those new positions that have been approved by our city council."

To address this shortage, ATCEMS is looking beyond Texas for help. For instance, seven of the 17 graduating cadets were from out of state, a testament to the agency's reputation beyond the region and state.

“In fact, the majority of our cadets today come from out of state, which I think is somewhat unique," said Chief Luckritz. "To attract them, we try to show individuals the uniqueness of Austin-Travis County EMS. As I mentioned, we're independent of the fire department. And so our sole mission is focusing on medicine, and we have very progressive protocols here." 

For example, ATCEMS has deployed a community health paramedic program with over 50 personnel on staff. They operate a triage line to divert low-acuity calls to other resources, use single-responder SUVs for non-emergency calls, and employ specialty medics for mental health, homeless outreach, and substance abuse.

These progressive protocols are good for patient care and ATCEMS’ limited budget. Austin voters recently rejected Proposition Q, a property tax increase that would have infused about $6 million into the EMS budget. Instead, they only got half that amount in a revised budget to fund overtime costs.

Additionally, “one of the challenges that we in every municipality are facing right now is the budgets are tight coming out of COVID," Chief Luckritz said. "A lot of those dollars that were present before are no longer available, things like the ARPA funds and the dollars that came through there. And so I think a lot of municipal governments are really struggling with finding that balance between finding the right balance of having to do some cost reductions.”

Meanwhile, finding enough mentors for new hires presents its own challenges. “As you grow and onboard a large number of people quickly, the harder it is to keep your culture intact," said Chief Luckritz. "Historically you would bring someone on board and they'd be with a very senior person for a significant amount of time. However, due to the volume of new hires that we're trying to get onboarded, we’re seeing new hires working with folks with relatively lower tenure."

This being said, having the problems associated with new hires is better than having no new hires at all. This is why ATCEMS is doing its best to attract new EMTs and expand its academy to train them. “We're really trying to prime the pump," Chief Luckritz said. “We’re doing our best to bring new people into our agency, and keep them here.”